Clothesline Project represents a unique display

This is just one of the many messages that could be read on T-shirts on front campus this week, as The Clothesline Project opened students’ eyes to the reality of domestic violence.

The Clothesline Project, coordinated by Jennifer Lindenberger, is a display of T-shirts decorated by students, faculty members or victims of domestic violence.

According to Lindenberger, the T-shirts “are designed in honor of or by women who have been a victim of violence.”

But violence against women is not the only issue addressed on the shirts.

“A child is abused in the U.S. every 2 minutes,” was painted on another shirt.

“(The Clothesline Project) started in 1990 by a group in Massachusetts,” said co-coordinator Jennifer Graham. “It was fashioned to be like the A.I.D.S. quilt – a visual display.”

On Wednesday afternoon, 46 shirts were on display and others were stacked on a table for passers-by who wanted to participate.

“We just want people to know that domestic violence really does happen and it doesn’t just happen in certain groups or families,” said Graham. “It can happen in any group or family.”

For Graham, the project hits closer to home than many know.

“In high school I was sexually assaulted, and I wanted to do something because when I went to the assistant principal she told me it was my fault,” Graham said.

Graham said she and Lindenberger plan to continue working with the Clothesline Project at Georgia College & State University. Shirt makings will be scheduled once a month and the shirts will be on display again in October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

According to Graham, each T-shirt color represented the experience of a particular person.

Red and pink shirts dealt with cases of rape or sexual abuse, while yellow shirts communicated messages about victims of battery or assault.

White shirts were designed in memory of women, who died as a result of domestic violence. Purple represented victims of abuse of sexual orientation.

Black represented individuals who were victims of domestic violence because they were disabled. Gray T-shirts were designed for victims of emotional abuse.

Green and blue shirts represented victims of child abuse or incest.

Some shirts on display were designed by textiles and three-dimensional design classes and by the In Our Best Interest Women’s Group, an educational program that examines domestic violence as a societal program linked to the oppression of women in society.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 18 2003. Filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry